Nautical Star Tattoos
Lots of debates focus on the meaning associated with nautical star tattoos, and the interpretation often varies with the user. This actually led to an increased significance level according to the person who used it and depending on the context. Sailors were the ones to set the tradition of nautical star tattoos as they had their superstitions and fears about being lost at sea or seeing their end away from the land. Thus the north star was seen as the home symbol and the silent promise that the person will stay on the right path in life. Such nautical star tattoos clearly represent good luck and return home in perfect conditions.
The groups who have predominantly adopted nautical star tattoos are the military, lesbians and gays as well as punk rockers, but taken separately they all consider different meanings to the symbol. For those in the army, the nautical star tattoos mean pretty much the same thing as for sailors; the military look forward to their return home. Freedom to choose, this is the message given by lesbians to the nautical star tattoos. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, non-heterosexual orientations were not regarded as freely as they are today and, lesbians would tattoo the nautical star on the wrist inside where it could be easily camouflaged by a watch, but in the evening as the type of clothes worn in bars were different, the tattoo could be seen and identified by people with similar orientations.
As for punk groups, nautical star tattoos represent a symbolic way of expressing their differences. With the same hints to the North star, these tattoos point to personal efforts to find one’s path in life even if that being a weirdo. With punk groups nautical star tattoos are often identified in the hand sleeve area or in combination with other designs. Yet, the choice of a nautical star doesn’t have to be connected with pertaining to one group or another, as it can simply be a matter of liking or disliking a design. The preference for one tattoo or another is highly personal and it should stay as such.
Rejections of possible interpretations for the meaning of nautical star tattoos are also very common; thus, the military often debunk and deny all the potential hints to a different sexual orientation. Yet, other people wear such tattoos in total ignorance of the symbolic charge. All in all, the truth is that nautical star tattoos are part of a tradition that is far from dying out.